It was the Stormers and to a lesser extent the Sharks who walked away from this weekend feeling optimistic about the road ahead into the Super Rugby quarter-finals.
The Stormers cemented their place in the last eight with a convincing 52-24 victory over the Southern Kings and it was a win they would have taken a lot of confidence from as they prepare to face the Chiefs at Newlands on Saturday.
There were the heroics of four-try star Huw Jones to be marvelled at by coach Robbie Fleck but it was the comfort and ease with which his team played the game that would have been most pleasing.
Even though there was never a shadow of doubt about the result, it was always going to be important that the Stormers lay down a solid marker in their first game back at home after their brief tour of Australia and they did so even with a touch of elegance.
As convincing as their win was over their coastal neighbours, the Stormers will carry with them the burden of knowing that their clash against the Chiefs on Saturday will be their first against New Zealand opposition in the competition this year. And they will do so with a hostile home crowd that is known for backing teams from the Land of the Long White Cloud.
South Africa’s other quarter-finalists, the Lions, didn’t do their country and conference any favours by sending a second string side to Buenos Aires. They not only got a sound 34-22 beating at the hands of the Jaguares but their loss condemned the Sharks to an away quarter-final clash in New Zealand against log leaders the Hurricanes.
Had the Lions just managed to come within seven points of the South Americans then the Sharks would not have had the added burden of travelling to New Zealand. That would have guaranteed the South African conference a team in the semi-finals with the Sharks having to play at Ellis Park for the second time in three weeks.
The Sharks had some nervous moments in securing their place in the quarter-finals after allowing the Sunwolves to stay alive in the game until the closing minutes.
In the end, sanity prevailed and the Durbanites triumphed 40-29 against their stubborn and unrelenting opponents.
But the Sharks were not convincing and they will have to improve by leaps and bounds if they are to match and overcome the force that the Hurricanes have become in the latter stages of the competition.
The Sharks' win on Friday night also knocked the wind out of the Bulls sails as they were crossing their fingers for an unlikely Sunwolves upset to see them sneak into the quarter-finals.
The Bulls, though, showed character and grit to overcome their disappointment by outplaying and outwitting the Cheetahs to a 43-17 win in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
It was the perfect way to bring the curtain down on their indifferent season as they exacted revenge on the same Cheetahs side that upstaged them at Loftus Versfeld last year in the final game of the season.
“We are obviously happy to finish the season on a high. But not to make the play-offs is disappointing ,” said Bulls captain Adriaan Strauss. - The Star